Movistar to shut down dedicated eSports TV channel

Movistar Plus, the Spanish pay-television operator owned by Telefónica, is to close down its channel dedicated to eSports after less than two years.

Movistar said it will still broadcast major eSports competitions, but will do so on Vamos, its general sports channel, or online.

The dedicated eSports channel went live in February 2017 after Movistar teamed up with ESL, the eSports company owned by Sweden-based media company Modern Times Group, to launch an eSports team and sponsor events in Spain.

Since launch, Movistar eSports has broadcast major gaming tournaments, such as the Intel Extreme Masters, ESL One, ESL Masters and MotoGP eSports Championship.

Movistar has lost rights to MotoGP to market newcomer DAZN, the over-the-top subscription streaming service, from 2019.

Last month, Mediapro, the Spanish media rights and production company, officially unveiled U-Beat, its over-the-top TV platform focused on eSports and video games.

A traditional TV channel with similar content is also said to be in the pipeline, which would have represent a challenger to Movistar eSports.